, 1887-12-22
ENDED.
Mary Teller's Life Rests with
the Jury.
Tho Defendant Cool and Con.
fldeht.

nv ouOut tWcuty tnluuteb VI Vch yVe
tsrday morning, Prosecuting Attorne!
Jones opened the argument in th'
Teller case. He said that the prosecu
tion had set before the jury numbe
Of facts. which tho defense must ex
plain. They had endeavored TO ex
plain them and he wished to point ou
several extraordinary and impossible
features in that explanation. In til,
first place there was evidence on the
premises OF struggle, the bed cloth
ing on the floor, two Stats gone, blood
on the ground, between the door ant
the spot where the body was found
He then ridiculed the idea that the de-
ceased had been knocked down b,
bullets from pistol in tho hands o
the defendant. The cipher letter was
strong evidence, and the sheriff was tc
he honored for securing it, and not to
be blamed as the defense had
declared. The fact that only a
portion Of the letter was written in
cipher, and that the middle portion
which began with the words: I want
to post vou," was conclusive evidence
tnat it was written with criminal in
tent. In the letter she told her BROTH
er to swear that she got the pistol of
the stand before she went out after the
horses, while on the stand she said he
brought it to her. This was only one
of the many inaccuracies. The state
ment that the blood spots between the
door and the body were made by the
bleeding of John Dugan's nose, was
such an impossible explanation, as to
stamp the whole testimony of the wit
ness who gave it as unreliable. There
was no evidence to show that the slat
found by the body was water soaked
On the contrary the evidence was
overwhelmingly against it. The de-
fendant said that all the Stats were in
her bed the night before the killing,
but claimed that the slat found by the
body was six inches too short for her
bed Colonel Turner, depending upon
his memory. thought it was an inch
too short. On the other hand, Sheriff
Glispin and Mr.. Majors fitted the slat
into the bedstead and both swcre posi-
lively that it fitted exactly. This was
another proof that the story of the
defendant was false. For himself, he
did not believe aword of it, and he
did not believe the jury did. But,even
If they did, they must conclude that
the killing was not done in self de-
tense. In the first place her own evil
,denco showed that she brought on the
conflict, and that after the deceased
was disabled, the defendant continued
TO beat his skull until it was mashed
to a pulp. That fact was enough to
destroy the plea Of self defence. How
could the spots OF blood between the
door and the body be explained? If
the deceased had stood in the door
looking out and had been struck be-
hind, he would have fallen forward
and his head would have struck about
where the blood spots were found. He
would have risen, and on receiving
another blow would have fallen in the
position in which his body was found.
The bed clothing would then have
been removed from the bed the
slats gone. He did not claim that
this was the way in which the murder
was committed, but the circumstances
rendered such an explanation thou
sand times more reasonable that the
story OF the defendant. Whether
that story was true was for the jury to
decide, but even if they did believe
il, he claimed they must decide, that
the killing was not justified AS ah act
of self defense.
The defense occupied the remainder
of the morning session in presenting
authorities to the effect that in the
present case the burden OF proof rested
upon the prosecution, and that the
killing was justified as an act of SELF
defense. The court thcn took the
usual noon recess.
In the afternoon Forster opened the
argument for the defense. With con-
siderable bitterness he accused the
prosecution of working with unwar-
rauted zeal to convict the defendant.
The prosecution had claimed that they
had nothing to explain, they had II
great deal to explain. They had to-
explain their robbing of the mail fcr
one thing. The story of the defendant
ON the witness stand demonstrated
that she was telling the truth. IL it
was not the truth she would have
broken down under the searching
cross-examination To which she was
subjected. lie called the attention of
the Jury to the way in which the pros
ecution had tried to evade putting
John Dugan on the stand. The means
which they had taken to accomplish
this were unjustifiable and deserved
severe censure. The prosecution had
started off with the theory that IA
murder had been committed. There
WAS no evidence to sustain such a
theory. On the contrary everything
was against it. The testimony OF all
the medical gentlemen put on the
stand was that bullets might have
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